The Plymouth Board of Public Works and Safety heard an update from Utilities Superintendent Donnie Davidson during their regular meeting Monday, Feb. 26.
Davidson reported that the Office of Community and Rural Affairs (OCRA) has awarded the City of Plymouth a $700,000 Community Development Plot Grant for the Water Improvement Project. A meeting was scheduled last week to coordinate various tasks to launch the project.
In a previous meeting, it was explained that the city is planning to rehabilitate the existing water tower on Pidco Drive, a one million gallon elevated storage tank that was built in 1977. It will undergo an interior and exterior cleaning with an abrasive scrub, along with new interior and exterior paint and coatings. The tank has rusted in spots so that will be addressed along with other minor updates.
Additionally, water distribution updates will be done on East Jefferson Street with bigger water mains and fire hydrants which will better assist with fire suppression efforts.
Around Plum, Gilmore and Douglas Streets, some dead water lines installed in the 1940s need to be removed as the water does not continuously flow. There is a portion line in the Yellow River bed that is exposed which could cause a major contamination if it is broken. That portion of the line will be completely abandoned and new lines will be installed in that area which will loop and avoid the Yellow River bed.
Also during the Feb. 26 meeting, the board approved Davidson’s request to apply for a grant through the Indiana Finance Authority in the amount of $10,000 to assist the City of Plymouth in taking inventory of the water service line program; there is no local match required. Davidson’s reported that over the years lead lines have been systematically removed and replaced when found; so far none have been found in the recent inventory. The funding will help the team meet the goal of October 16 for having that inventory complete by using modeling for determining which lines might be impacted where the hydro-excavator cannot reach.